Monday, October 04, 2004

Sons and Daughters were a blast of brilliance. The male singer, Scott Paterson - who also shares guitar work with female vocalist Adele Bethel - has an awesome seriousness to his demeanour that is the chief indicator of the band's youth, but it is entirely good thing. Ailidh Lennon - Bass, mandolin, piano (though all three front players handle the bass to give the band a powerful driving pulse) - is, a complete honey. David Gow handles the percussion with a deftness that suits the rhythm of the band and its energetic performance.

In addition to performing most of their current mini-album Love the Cup, they also performed a number of other tracks, including one so fresh from writing they needed a lyric sheet to perform it! Although there was some initial scepticism amongst an audience mainly there for the headline act, Sons and Daughters won them over with great style. I missed seeing them earlier in the summer so was thrilled to see them on the support slot for The Delgados.

The Delgados easily fit into the BBC6 Music schedule but should really be everywhere --- they have a really distinctive manner and a very appealing approach to songs. From the moment they come on stage they are in command of the audience, and though they often take large pauses between songs to sort themselves out they can apply the skill that comes from experience to keep the moment going and the audience enraptured. Founders of Chemikal Underground, the label that brought us Arab Strap and Mogwai, the band are a tight unit of beautiful harmonies and touchingly realistic lyrics. Emma Pollock - damn, she's a fine gal! - and Alun Woodward create these songs, but it's the band as a whole who brings them to life (Stewart Henderson on bass is a real hoot on stage and Paul Savage rounds off the foursome with some gutsy percussion work. Tony Doogan puts the sound together and makes the swirling landscape of thir music truly sing).

They end the night on two older tracks: Pull the Wires From the Wall and No Danger, still two of their best tracks and frankly, they couldn't have made me happier by ending on those two glories. Sweaty but happy, Mr Cloud and I went to get the car home: a good end to his birthday weekend!

The place was packed - probably the fullest I have ever seen the venue, and it is a great venue - and fully enthused. The Rescue Rooms has to qualify as one of the coolest places on this planet to see bands, just for its intimacy. Ballboy (twice - yet more fantastic Scottish music!), Saloon (link provides a nice review of their second album When We Meet In The Future), Mono (Japanese post-rock), and David Thomas and the Two Pale Boys (the current offshoot project of the Pere Ubu founder and all-round cool dude DT), just to name a few of the acts I have seen here. If you are in Nottingham, try to get there. It's part of the Rock City complex, but much better (I spent a large portion of the early 90s at Rock City but the RR are actually much nicer). If you ever get chance to come to Nottingham, find out what's coming to The Rescue Rooms and drop in, if only for the atmosphere of its bar. It's a grand place, fine music at all times and some cracking bands/artistes perform on its tiny stage.